After yesterday the irregularities denounced by ELA and detected in the inspection carried out by the Provincial Council in the Txara I residence in San Sebastián came to light, today they have been the workers which they have taken the floor.

Employees of residences such as San Juan, Alai Etxe, Villa Sacramento, San José, San Martin, Aldakonea, Lamorous or Txara I have offered a press conference this Thursday in San Sebastián, accompanied by the representative of ELA, Txomin Lasa, in which One by one, they have described the situation in the respective centers where they work.

They have denounced that the Txara I is not an isolated case but is “extrapolated” to all the centers in Gipuzkoa and they have stressed that users “spend more than 14 hours without eating” due to the lack of personnel and insufficient ratios. In two words: they do not arrive.

They have reported that in almost all residential centers in Gipuzkoa, users “spend about 14 hours in bed”, with a “small reprieve” in the cases that are scheduled.

In the specific case of Txara I, a worker at the center has assured in this regard that “it is not true” what was stated yesterday by the deputy for Social Policies of Gipuzkoa, Maite Peña, since “they are not 16 but 100 residents who spend too much time in bed “and has stressed that the” recenas “referred to by the deputy are” yogurts, which are counted and are only for those who have it scheduled. “

Likewise, they have pointed out that in most of the residences “a 24-hour nursing service is not offered.”

As they have explained, “dinners start at 7:00 pm and breakfast does not start until 9:30 am”. Therefore, at night they spend many hours without eating and during the day, having so few hours in between, meals sometimes “almost overlap” and is “impossible to respect the hours of medical guidelines of medication “.

They have also denounced serious deficiencies in hygiene. As they have pointed out, in some cases, users can spend “the whole morning without changing the diaper until the afternoon shift” and some have spent “up to 20 hours in bed” due to lack of staff.

In addition, it has denounced that users are only showered “once a week” and the rest of the days they are cleaned “with a wet washcloth”, except for a few residents who “have two days scheduled because they are well head and complain. ”

ELA urges to change the model

For its part, Txomin Lasa has denounced that the daily situation of the residences is “indecent and inhuman” and that the treatment offered to users “leaves much to be desired” as a consequence of “precarious working conditions, certain ratios insufficient and understaffed “. He denounces that the institutions and management companies “treat people like screws and that is why these types of situations go through, they change the quality of the service for financial savings,” he censored.

As he stressed, it is a “structural situation that comes from before” the inspection of Txara I was known and has insisted that the number of workers “is not enough to offer dignified care to users”. which are “the ones that suffer the most from the consequences of this situation.”

In addition, he highlighted that the strike that the workers have maintained for more than three years It not only aims to improve their working conditions, but “also to improve the services and care offered to users in residential centers.”

“Ours is not just a labor dispute, it is a conflict of trying to change a model and provide a quality service,” said the ELA representative, who insisted that “there must be more staff, decent conditions for the workers. “He insisted that it is time to solve it “and that the irresponsibility with which the County Council is playing changes”.

Lasa has considered that the fact that Peña said that “this is an isolated case” is not true and has stressed that “either the deputy does not have the information because it does not reach her because the subcontracted companies are not interested in her having it, or because he lied “and has remarked that he hopes that this is not the reason” because it would be very serious. “

Finally, he recalled that ELA has been requesting a meeting for “years” both with the Deputy for Social Policies, Maite Peña, and with the General Deputy of Gipuzkoa, Markel Olano, and has regretted that they have been “ignored” to date. However, he has reiterated the “outstretched hand” to hold an “urgent” meeting and “resolve this conflict.”

Family members join the complaint

The association of relatives of users of residences Relatives of Gipuzkoa have denounced “the lack of personnel” in the residential centers of the Territory and have ensured that the inspections that are carried out in the same they are agreed or they are notified in advance, “even in Singapore they know when the inspections are going to be carried out.”

In a statement, they denounced the uncovered leave and vacations “in such important positions as nursing, psychology, medicine or a gerontology assistant.” They have also stressed that the lack of physiotherapy “has been evident” lately, as well as the lack of daily activities due to the fact that the free-time monitors “carry out other types of tasks since the pandemic began”, thus “isolation to which they have been subjected has been brutal “.

Gipuzkoako Senideak has criticized that the meal in Txara I “it is catering, scarce and of low quality” and they have agreed with the workers that “the usual thing in this and other centers is that, between dinner and breakfast, they spend between 12 and 14 hours”.

Finally, they have shown their support to all the workers of the residences, and has encouraged “to denounce these unfair situations both for residents and for all workers in the sector.”

Provincial Council: “The inspections work”

The spokesperson for the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, has defended that the inspections that the foral institution carries out in the homes for the elderly in the Territory “work and allow the detection of any shortcomings that may exist in the services.” As indicated, “75% of inspections are carried out without prior notice and last year that percentage was 96%.”

In a statement, Mendoza has responded in this way to the accusations made this Thursday by the ELA union, which it has accused of using “these specific deficiencies for the benefit of its own interests, damaging the entire care system of Gipuzkoa, one of the most advanced and innovative in our environment “.

Mendoza has assured that “the care and well-being of the elderly who live in the residences of the Territory has been, is and will continue to be the main priority” of the provincial institution.

In addition, he has defended that “the ratios in Gipuzkoa are above what is set by the Basque Government decree, which sets the ratio of workers per position at 0.36 when that figure is 0.497 in Gipuzkoa.”

Mendoza has applauded “the work carried out daily by all the staff of the Territory’s network of residences, especially in these last hard months.”